


A How To Guide on Tearing Up the Universe

by Dragonowo



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Tangled (2010), Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, Also on Tumblr, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Kate has a couple of panic attacks, Mild Angst, don't blame her she was summoned and forced to give a presentation, first fic, kate is a big mood tbh, less likely than you think, minor angst??, romance in the future??, sad varian? in my fic?, splits off from the science expo episode, which has a lot of extra things, won't tag it till it shows up though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 14:59:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17921027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonowo/pseuds/Dragonowo
Summary: Falling into your favorite fictional world- what a dream! But when you can't remember that it was fictional in real life and the universe itself is conspiring to keep you there, it's more like a nightmare.





	1. Adjustments Gone Wrong

Varian was fine, he’s fine, guys, honest. He didn’t care that Cass ~~ie~~ had ditched him- albeit kindly- and left him stranded without an assistant. No, no, she had to, the  **great scientist** Doctor St. Croix was a very, very important man. Yes, he would just have to find a new partner… With the power of alchemy! It was a great idea! He might win with that alone! (Although the Cassandrian maker was amazing, if he did say so himself) 

So he rummaged through his bag and searched for the left over materials he had brought for Cassandra- no, no, he brought the because any scientist knows that extra materials are key for last minute… Adjustments.

* * *

She was on her computer, like most teenagers of the age, watching a show that she had just heard about. I’m sure that you know the show; it was Tangled the Series, and she was pretending to son over Varian. She was still sad, of course, but who really cries over knowing the future of an adorable sweet summer child? Not her.

She has a name, of course, but it’s not terribly relevant to the story. A tall 14 year old, she was wasting away the grading day after exams, that sweet spot of no homework to power through, after spending an hour finding the episodes, of course. She was wearing what would be classified as indecent if she wasn’t wearing a bra under her tank top and loose yoga pants. In other words, she was all set for comfort. Ready for a marathon. Not of running, but of cartoons.

Now, in most stories she would be oblivious, never thinking outside her box and letting the other people decide for her. But this girl? She spent time thinking about what she would do if she landed in Harry Potter or Naruto. Few fantasies had popped into her head for Tangled, but as she watched the first few episodes they were bubbling up, ready for action. Unfortunately, they never would pop.

* * *

Order input

>Must enjoy science

>Must enjoy learning

~~> Must like Varian~~

>Must be assistant material

>Cannot be elderly or too young

>Enter

>Computing

>Computing

>Computing

>Completed.

>Ready for summoning.

* * *

Varian pressed the button, in his excitement at the fact it was working distract him from the fact that the bigger the invention, the more likely it was to go wrong. And that it did. For you see, he had forgotten to specify the maximum range. And that would normally be fine, as even he couldn’t cross dimensions. But when combined with the other scientific experiments, the excess energy devoted to the project, and two spots where the fabric between the universes had gotten thin, well… Let’s be thankfully that it only summoned a human girl. And nothing worse.

 

Because as exciting as Cthulhu is, killing off the planet would not be good for the future of this fic.

 


	2. F a l l i n g

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wonder why Kate's making such a big deal out of everything? It's not that important.

Light

Everywhere

Multicolored, white, blue, grey- it kept changing

She was falling, that much she could tell

She didn’t know when she had started but all she knew was that she had pulled on her jacket

And then she began to

F

 A

  L

   L

    D

     O

      W

       N

Before she hit the ground on her feet.

* * *

Loud, for lack of a better word, lights shown out from his newest alchemecha (alchemy? Machine? Get- nevermind, his talent is inventing, not naming), forcing him to use his goggles.

The lights shut out anticlimactically, the alchemecha looking like it had never shined, sitting there innocently. Except, there was a girl standing there. Wearing…. Varian stared. Not out of perversion, no; but out of how  _odd_  her clothes were. She wore pants, but… Not like any material he had seen before, and she had on an odd shirt, with the sleeves having been… Cut off? They didn't have any frayed fabric, though, and in fact appeared intentional.

* * *

She stared around her. Everything was weird looking- no. No, it was normal. The world had always looked like this. She knew it. But _where was she?_ As she looked around, she saw a kid around… Her age? She couldn’t tell, she never could. She was starting to panic, she knew. About to scream-

A glove covered her mouth. It dulled the scream, enough for her to abstractly hear the boy speaking frantically out of the corner of her mind. His words came into focus.

“-I’m sorry but please stop screaming I didn’t think this through I’ll explain if you stop screaming-”

He was panicking in an almost adorable way, she noted, and immediately shoved that thought into a box. No getting attracted to your potential kidnapper. That’s how you get Stockholm syndrome, or an accelerated version. She stopped screaming, wanting answers and figuring that if she at least appeared to be…. What’s the word, she had it on the tip of her tongue… If she was acquiescence, then she would probably have a higher chance of escape.

Varian finally noticed that she had stopped screaming and stopped his rambling. “Oh, so, uh, I needed an, uh, assistant, and so through the power of ALCHEMY-!” He shouted the last part out of habit. “And summoned you, to be, my, uh, assistant. For a science exposition.” He rambled through his explanation nervously. “But! I’ll be able to get you home the instant it’s over! Oh, I should, probably, uh, take my glove away, huh?” He belatedly noticed that he hadn’t taken his hand away and reddened from embarrassment.

After spitting out the taste of glove, she stared at him in disbelief. “You. Summoned me. SUMMONED. ME!” She repeated loudly for emphasis. “So I could be your assistant in a  _science exposition?!"_


	3. Agreement and Confusion

“Erm, yes?” He squeaked out. “I mean, I had it filter out people who don’t like science, and made it a requirement that they would love learning so I didn’t think that you’d be this mad-” He was rambling again, and though she wanted to let him continue talking to try and gather some information, he shut up suddenly. “I still need to tell you what you need to do! I’ll probably, uh, get called up soon and you need to know your lines!” He paced a few feet looking nervous.

She decided to take pity and reassured him. It was to… Why? Why would she-? Information. No, to make him more likely to let her go? Her reason seemed to be slipping away and she let it flee, instead tapping the boy on the shoulder. “Just tell me what it is and how it works. I can make my own words.” She meant she could make her own speech, dammit, why did she say words?

* * *

What was she doing before she was taken here? She remembered that she was on her computer… About to binge watch something… What was it? Why can’t she r e  ~~ **m**~~ _em_ _ ** ~~b~~**  er_

Huh?

What was that?

Whatever. She had to remember what Var- the boy was telling her. Where did that name come from?

It doesn’t matter.

Okay

She continues to listen.


	4. The Expo you've all been waiting for!

She exhaled. The previous inventor had just gone, with what appeared to be a giant, primitive fan. They were next, and she knew what she had to say, how much sand to pour in, the name… She was fine. It was fine.

“Next.” Said the voice that had been insulting and dismissive of all the previous inventions. The boy took a deep breath, flashed her a quick smile, and ducked through the curtains to the stage.

“Behold! The power of alchemy!” Wow, she did not expect it to be that fast. After another breath, she stepped out from behind the curtains as well. “The power of alchemy!” She echoed. “I think we have a real winner here, if I may say. Sand? Good for beaches. But if you have too much and nowhere to put it, this alchemy machine is perfect!” She busied herself pulling her side of the curtains to the side, showing the machine. The boy mirrored her on his side.

“I give you… The Elemental Transmogrifire!” He gestured towards her. “Assistant.”

She picked up the sand bag and slowly poured it into the cannon looking machine, stepping away wearily once she finished. He stepped up to the plate, pulling the lever on the side.

“The rotation causes friction, which heats the sand while the counter centrical force promotes partical compression! The end result?” He was shouting to be heard over the noise of the Elemental Transmogrifire. He shut it off when he finished speaking.

“The end result? 50 pounds of sand turns into… This.” He pulled a piece of purple something out of the cannon.

“I call this new element… Cassandrium.”

A woman gasped. When our girl looked over at the gasper, she saw that she appeared surprised… And was that grey and black hair natural? Yes. Yes. Yes, it was. She knew that. Why was she questioning it? But she blinked and the black haired guard was looking like she had never reacted at all, making the assistant wonder if she had even moved in the first place.

The old man sniffed. “It was a good effort, I will say that. But without any  _flair_ , I simply  _cannot_  allow myself to give you the first prize. But it was adequate enough to gain a good job from me.” He opened a box and took out a green ribbon. Pinning it to the alchemists chest, he waved at them impatiently. “Get off the stage, children. There’s one more to go.”

She gaped at the idiotic man. As much as she would want to rail into him, she wanted to… To what? Home…? Home. Home! She needed the alchemist to send her home. She walked over to him, ostensibly to help move the Elemental Transmogrifire, but really so that she could remind him of his promise.

But pink smoke exploded from the backstage, the curtains flying back open and a dark skinned woman appeared in a flash of sparkles.

**“Everybody at this expo make some noiiiise!”**

She shouted to the crowd. “This is the  **most sensational moment** you’ve all been waiting for! But first!” The woman pulled on a cannon rope and the cannon shot out- “I give you chocolate!” Even as she resisted the urge to cover her ears, the girl surprised herself with lightning fast hands catching all the chocolate near them, bending down to grab some too. The alchemist didn’t look very amazed by the chocolate, which was a stark contrast to the judge, who appeared absolutely estatic to receive the candy.

“Jaws, prepare to drop. Larynxs, get ready to scream and eyeballs, how about you take a good look around because after my creation, the world will never look the same!” The woman strutted around like a showman, ending with her ripping the cover off and displaying a table, two rocks and a giant white ball, all of which were covered in garish stringed gems that were eye searingly reflective.

The _girl_ muttered, at the same time as the alchemist, _“Looks garish and ugly. Where would you even keep it?”_ “Looks useless. What does it even do?” The alchemist spoke up at the end, loud enough for the show-scientist to hear him.

“The real question, kid… Is what doesn’t it do? Now have some chocolate and shut up.” She tossed a few in his direction, the girl snaking her hand out to grab one or two of them. The woman walked over to lean against her table, coincidentally prompting the judge to sing her praises. “It’s luster is  **glorious**! I see no need to continue this contest.” He pulled out a blue ribbon and pinned it to her chest. “She is obviously the winner of this year’s science exposition!”

The alchemist’s head drooped, and he slowly walked away, going to sit on the fountain ledge. The chocolate eating assistant ran after him, determined to finally get sent home.

He looked up at her approach. “Oh, yeah. Uh, I’ll get started on sending you-” he broke off as footsteps approached, seeming to be happier until his mood crashed to even lower. She looked back at the footsteps and saw the soldier from before approach.

“You should’ve won.” The soldier said, sitting next to him. She looked at the chocolate girl, who was standing awkwardly. “You even managed to find a new assistant, and she probably did a better job than I would’ve.” The chocolate girl felt aghast. So she was a replacement? This whole mess wouldn’t have happened if she had only stayed! “My name’s Cassandra. What about you?” She appeared to care slightly, so the girl told her. “Kate, huh?” The newly named Cassandra repeated. “How did this kid manage to get you to help him out?”

Kate would have glared at the alchemist, but she knew from looking in the mirror that all it indicated was that she was constipated. So instead, she chose her words carefully. “Well, it was very sudden. I’d almost say that he summoned me, it happened so fast.” Almost imperceptibility, the boy flinched. “And when he told me his tale, I just couldn’t say no.” Mostly because he wouldn’t send me back otherwise, she mentally added.

“I didn’t know that the kid was such a charmer. Have you been faking your awful social skills?” Cassandra nudged him. “And hey, I think he liked your invention after all. Look over there."

The as of yet unnamed alchemist lifted his head and paled. "Doctor St. Croix! No, don’t!” The boy ran to the man at his machine. “You’re building too much pressure!” The judge slapped him off. “I’m a  **great scientist** ,  _boy_ , I know how to handle this machine.” Croix pulled the lever. The machine whirrrrled violently, the top exploding off from its base and slamming into a castle wall, then to another wall, before slamming the floor on its way towards Cassandra, the alchemist, and St. Croix. Cassandra hesitated before tackling the boy, letting Croix get smashed with the rouge Elemental Transmogrifier and get sent flying.

The Transmogrifier itself landed in the invention of the first place winner, instantly getting caught up floating. Kate breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that. They could just grab it out of there, right?

Wrong.

It kept spinning, green lighting crackling from its surface. A windstorm appeared within seconds, the sounds of lighting and wind cutting out Kate’s ability to hear the alchemist.

End of part one.


	5. nonononononononono

“-It’ll suck up everything in sight! Us! The castle! Everything!” Kate managed to hear the last bit of the alchemists speech and paled even further, if that were possible. The haze over her desire to return home tore under the horror and stress at the situation. She searched around frantically for whatever had brought her here; she was sure that she could send herself back, with or without the alchemist.

She saw the machine and started sprinting towards it, already assessing the ground and how she could escape for long enough without tripping. Unfortunately. she forgot to factor in one thing: Her weight. She weighed in at barely 100 pounds on a good day with heavy clothing. Here? In this windstorm? Kate got blown the fuck away and into the air, hands grappling desperately for something, anything, to slow her ascent into the tornado.

Thankfully, our canonical protagonists were hard at work at their plan, and Varian was kept from flying off like Kate by virtue of Cassandra holding onto him.

“ALCHEMIST!!” Kate screamed. “If you let me die here, I’ll haunt you for the rest of your goddamn life!” Their hands were only a few inches apart and Kate managed to grab one of the alchemists hands in both of her own when the horse began running backwards. she proceeded to hold it tightly in a death grip. The alchemist managed to reach the lever and pull it down, causing the windstorm to stop… causing the wind to  _not_  be pulling up the alchemist and Kate…. causing the two to fall into an ungainly pile, Cassandra only managing to make sure neither of them would break any bones.

Kate wheezed for a moment before gingerly de _tangling_  herself from the alchemist, and walked over to where the…

machine

the

summoning machine

where was it?

wherewherewhererewherewhere

there

there it is, it’s fine, it’s fine, I can go home, I can….

tears are sliding down her cheeks as she stares at the broken, bent, and mostly missing piece of what she needed to get home…. homeh _omeHomeHOME **HOME-**_

She shook herself. Where was she? When had she moved? There wasn’t cobblestone under her feet, but rather a bed. When she looked up she noted abstractly that it was a prettily decorated room, with purple and golden suns as the obvious centerpieces. What about-?

He blood turned to ice. Someone was here. Why? She needed more space to think, she couldn’t be trapped with a stranger- oh. Him.

“H-Hey, there, uh, Assistant.” The boy with the charcoal blue lock of hair. The Alchemist.


	6. Disasters Aftermath, Seeking Answers

She stared at the boy in front of her. The one who had caused all her problems. “W-here am I?” The girl asked, voice cracking, staring at him. He was standing next to the door, blocking her potential escape. She wet her lips, not out of arousal but out of nervous habit.

He jumped at the sound of her voice, looking slightly terrified. “O-oh! Uh, there’s water on the nightstand next to you, if you want-” His hands waved in the direction to her left, and Kate glanced over quickly, scared about what he might do if she didn’t keep an eye on him. She did indeed see a glass of water, but the memory of the day kept her from even touching it. 

“I’m not thirsty. Answer my question.” She kept her gaze on him, and felt vicious pleasure when he averted his eyes. The alchemist coughed. “Well, you’re, uh, in Corona castle- Rapunzel let us use this room to, um, let you stay in?”

Kate wondered where on Earth Corona was, but it didn’t matter to her. “Fine. I did everything you asked me for and more. Send me home, now.“ She struggled not to shout, each breath long and deep in a calming technique that never worked. He had to get her home, he had  _promised_.

“You- you don’t remember?” The alchemist had a look on his face that Kate couldn’t read.

“Remember- remember what?” She was breathing faster, shallow. Nothing had happened. He was faking her out, trying to get her to stay longer, work more, it was fine  _she could get home_

“It- it broke.” He winced at his own words, but continued. “Something must have hit it. We’ve been looking, but we can’t find the other pieces.”

“No. No, no, no no nono nononono it can’t have broke it can’t have broke.” She was pulling at her hair, not even noticing that her thoughts were falling from her lips. “He’s lying I can still get home it’s just hiding-”

The alchemist approached gingerly, reaching out, unsure what to do. “Don’t touch me!” She screams. “You’re lying to me,  _it’s_  not  _broken_  I can  _leave_  and you can’t stop me!” She was hysterical, shrieking the last few words in a pitch that made the alchemist cringe.

Uneasy breaths dissipate into the otherwise silent air, one huff at a time. With no experience handling a situation like this, the alchemist can only stare as she doubles over, hands cradling her head.

It’s aching, throbbing in time with her gasping breaths. It’s crashing against the walls of her head, punishing her for crying and taking joy in doing so. It’s all she can do to not collapse. She holds her head in her hands, squeezing her hands to her head tighter and tighter in a futile attempt to end the pain. Gasping breaths with a hint of a whimper on them leave her, escaping into the air. Her breathing is the only sound for a long while.

“…..Is is really broken?” Is the whisper that comes out of the girls mouth. She’s curled into a ball in the center of the bed, her eyes watching the alchemist once her head had stopped throbbing debilitatingly.

He flinches at the sound of her voice, quiet and hopeless. “Yeah. It- it is. I don’t think they’ve found any other pieces.” His face is downcast, no joy from helping to stop the tornado to be seen. “I’m… I’m sorry. I should never have done this. I really messed up.” He seems bitter.

“Can I still go home?” She ignores the rest of his words, unable to respond to anything that isn’t directly related to her ability to go home. “Can you fix it?”

“I don’t know. I might, but some of the materials…” He looks up at her. “some of them were rare, and… I don’t know.” He doesn’t ramble this time, instead cutting his sentence off in the middle.

There’s a minute of silence.

“Can you try?”

“I can try, but I already kept you here longer than I asked and let the machine break. And I don’t even know if I can find the rarer materials.”

“Can. You. Try?”

“…Yes. But why me? There are way more competent scientists that wouldn’t mess it up.”

“…You’re the one who brought me here, not them. You managed to take me here, so you can send me back.” She seems to be slowly pulling her wrecked emotional and mental self back together, one jagged piece at a time.

He looks at her, the girl who had been brought from her house, became an assistant to an alchemist, lost her only way home and was stitching herself back together in front of the person who had caused her all this anguish. He knows that he’ll have to make it up for her, with interest. “I promise I’ll do everything that I can.” He whispers. “Do you want me to get you some food?” The alchemist opens the door and steps out before she confirms that she does want some, though he adds “I’ll be back soon.” before shutting the door behind himself.


	7. Hallway Gossip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's gossiping. Honestly unearthing this part took ages. Very short.

 After Varian closed the door, he let out a miserable sigh before turning to the direction of the kitchen. He was still feeling awful about the whole situation, and would've started angsting about it if someone hadn't interrupted him. 

        "Varian!" The princess suddenly appeared from around the corner. 

        "Ahh!" He screamed, jumping back and flailing his hands. He flushed once he realized who it was. "Your- I mean, Rapunzel. What, uh, what did you need? I was just going to get food for...” His voice trailed off as he looked away from the princess, still depressed over his failure. Unfortunately for his wish to get away without a large delay, Rapunzel noticed his sour mood. 

        “Varian, what’s wrong?” She gasped. “Is your friend okay? Do I need to call a doctor?!” The princess raised her voice. “I need a-!” 

        “Shhhh!” Varian waved his hands in the air, attempting to stop her without manhandling the princess. “She’s not injured- I mean, I don’t think so as I didn’t see any blood- but I really don’t think that she wants to see anyone right now?” He ended on a questioning tone, rubbing the back of his head. “So, that’s why I’m going to get, you know, food for her. Because she’s hungry. I think.” 

        He started trying to edge past her. “So I’ll just go, uh, get that food. Now. So, bye!” He speed-walked away to escape from the empathetic terror that was Rapunzel. 

        Rapunzel watched him leave, hands on her hips. “No one should be alone when they’re sad!” It was a jump in logic, but when has that ever stopped Rapunzel from attempting to help out her friends? Even if they weren’t friends yet. But they would be once Rapunzel came to the rescue! 

The princess tip-toed over to the door, pushing it open slowly and edging in. She was met with the sight of a teenager curled into herself on the bed, the lights low. The sound of loud, gasping sobbing had filled the room, the girls shoulders shaking. These sobs weren’t filled with hysteria, but with the misery of someone in an inescapable situation."

        But even as Rapunzel watched, the heaving sobs slowed, the girl taking deeper and deeper breaths, the heavy, thick emotion in the room lifting inch by inch, becoming replaced with a sense of strained calm, until the younger teenager took a final deep breath and swallowed. Sitting up, she locked eyes with Rapunzel and froze.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't worry there's more!! I'm just going to publish the chapters one at a time. But if you want to see the rest of the fic, then you could visit my Tumblr! There's a lot of extra fun stuff on there and you can ask me anything!  
> https://varian-love-and-other-stuff.tumblr.com/


End file.
